The consistent, rapid growth in the biopharma industry has its downsides that most other industries would envy: chronic inability to hire and retain the right staff. According to BioPlan Associates’ latest industry study, the 12th Annual Report and Survey of
Biopharmaceutical
Manufacturing
Capacity and
Production [1], not
nearly enough is being
done to alleviate the
trained staffing shortages that have plagued
this segment for at
least a decade. And
as the report’s results
show, even those hired
will not be easy to
retain.

Each year, we examine hiring and training
trends as part of our
study, as this industry – which is highly
technical in nature
–depends on the skills
and expertise of the
people within it. In
recent years, we have
observed important
changes in the types
of job functions the
industry is having
trouble filling, likely
reflecting wider industry shifts.

The study asks respondents to indicate which job positions they are finding
it difficult to fill at their facilities. This
year, we find that process development
– upstream and downstream – staff are
clearly the most challenging to hire for,
cited by 38.5 percent and 37.2 percent
of respondents, respectively. This likely
reflects the industry’s greater focus on
process efficiency.

But while challenges hiring upstream process development staff have
stabilized in recent years, difficulties
hiring downstream PD staff have continued. This may well be related to
the increasing attention paid to downstream processing, which has failed to
match recent upstream improvements.
In fact, this appears to be a more acute
problem in the U.S., where it is the position considered most difficult to fill
overall, by 45.8 percent of respondents
(compared to 33. 3 percent in Western
Europe).

Beyond the focus on process and
downstream, the challenges hiring
quality assurance staff are likely a
reflection of the wider penetration of

Hiring in Biopharma: RapidIndustry Growth is CreatingBottlenecksDownstream process development positions are becoming more difficult tofill, and are an especially problematic hiring area in the U.S. Hiring budgetsare increasing, but the industry is also outsourcing more process develop-ment jobs to cut costs.n By Eric S. Langer, president and managing partner at BioPlan AssociatesSIMULATINGSYSTEMS